The Animal Instinct

It's been one of those days... no, it's been one of those weeks... wait, it's been one of those months!
Stressed beyond most limits of stress, due to work, change, finances, weather, family, future, career, what everyone will think of me...

It's been one of those months.

I was on my way to teach meditation, cranky due to being dehydrated the day before due to subtle food poisoning, not to mention a tough day at work, when I realized do I really want to teach meditation being cranky deep down inside? I realized the yoga class before that might settle my mood. I needed it. Then again driving home in the snow storm which was supposed to hit around 8 pm, (when I would leave meditation class), came into mind and annoyed me further. As I was driving, ignoring the traffic, going with the flow, singing the songs, a song's lyrics specifically caught my attention.

It was The Animal Instinct"  by The Cranberries.

The lyrics went something like this: Suddenly something has happened to me, as I was having my cup of tea.
Suddenly i was feeling depressed, I was utterly and totally stressed.
Do you know you make me cry?
Do you know you make me die?
And the thing that gets to me, is you'll never really see,
And the thing that freaks me out, is I'll always be in doubt.
It is a lovely thing that we have, it is a lovely thing that we,
It is a lovely thing, the animal, the animal instinct.

So take my hands and come to me, we will change reality.
So take my hands and we will pray, they won't take you away.
They will never make me cry, no,
They will never make me die.
And the thing that gets to me, is you'll never really see,
And the thing that freaks me out, is I'll always be in doubt.

The animal, the animal, the animal instinct in me,
It's the animal, the animal, the animal instinct in me...

This song woke me up from this frustrated anger, annoyance and crankiness I was holding onto.
This is why we meditate, to rid ourselves of these basal instincts, our primordial instincts... that of an animal. So although this animal instinct in me, is a survival instinct, does it serve me now?
Our fright, flight and fight responses are useful, but did I need to be stressed and let it out right now?

I thought about it all, how I let myself get stressed by not being present. How I let myself be irritable and angry because of lack of sleep... I let it all get to me. I can manage this, but I wasn't being present, I was irate due to lack of sleep, but I missing my energy now, because I was upset about the night before.
The song helped me let out some steam, and get into a meditative state. It was great to enter yoga more positive. I was going to narrate this during meditation class, but sadly students got scared of the snow storm.

OM

Breathe

Meditation: Be present and Climb On!

Yesterday I climbed after a year. I do have a fear of heights, also I "self doubt" a lot regards to what I am capable of, I am also anxious about falling, although there is a trusty belayer ready to catch me; these afflictions in my mind, affect my body, and my climbing.

My first wall, I panicked the whole way up, forgetting to breathe, scared of falling. On my second climb, I heard my climbing teachers voice yell in my mind "breathe! breathe like you're having a baby." My breathing brought me to an utter awareness, and it was easier to climb.

My next climb, I almost gave up, but I took a few minutes to breathe, focus, meditating while hanging on a harness, 20 feet off the ground. Just collecting myself to here, now, me and my body. I let everyone else fade away, I let the world drop away, my breathing, my muscles, my heart all united in completing this small task of climbing to another 10 or 15 feet. It was a simple climb, but it seemed a gargantuan task, for a non-beginner, beginning to climb again. Those few minutes helped me gather some phenomenal energy to calm down and climb on. My focus was solely on me, and it was easier.

Why do I fret? Because I forget to be. I let fear take over, when all I need is me.

Meditation can help us immensely even though it maybe short... Maybe that's why they say when stressed, breathe and count to 10 when angry or flustered! So if you think about it there's been different types of meditation, through out the ages, cultures, places, and religions! The effects are always the same.

Breathe!

Om.

The 5 Minute Meditation Project

A few days ago I had just finished the first meditation session I had done in a long time and was ready to start the day. Naturally that meant checking my email and seeing to my social networking addictions. My friend Pree was online, and after a bit of catching up I excitedly informed her,

Me: I meditated and exercised today! drinking tons of water too!!


Pree: i need to do all of the above.


Me: yeah. I really want to stay on the meditation thing.
I only did like 15 min and it made a big difference.
Ive had really bad anxiety the last few days. I can still feel it there but its much more controlled now.


Pree: hmm. i dont meditate at all.
like if i do its less than 5 minutes.


Me: 5 min is sufficient
and like any other discipline youll naturally do more and more over time if you just do it everyday.


I recalled the times that a week or so of daily meditation sessions helped me pull out of a slump or some existential crisis. I told Pree of one in particular time when I was so lost and in despair and meditation was pretty much the only positive thing I was doing for myself. After only a few weeks of meditating my outlook was changing, my posture improved, and I even dug up some long lost childhood memories.

Pree: wow
i need to!


Me: wanna make it a committment?
lets both meditate at least 5 minutes a day for the next 365 days


Pree: OK!
deal!
hmm we should make a blog about it


And thus began the 5 minute meditation project. For whatever reason, despite the consistently positive outcomes of meditation I never keep up the habit for more than a couple of weeks at a time. But if the past is any indicator the cumulative effect of a full year of regularly centering myself, and clearing the murky waters of my mind could very well be life changing.

As everyone accumulates inner junk throughout life, everyone can benefit from looking deep inside and recognizing and sorting out the mess. Is 5 minutes each day too much to give for even a chance of overcoming past hurts and self-defeating patterns? Of course not! So if you're reading this right now I hope you'll seriously consider joining in on this little experiment. This blog is mine and Pree's way of tracking and sharing the impact regular meditation has on our lives. If you choose to join in we would love to hear from you and to be able to share your experiences and insights with everyone. Or, you can spend that 5 minutes each day compulsively looking at the same old uninspiring nonsense online. Your call.

Happy Meditating everyone!